Project Summary The purpose of this grant submission will be to request funds to partially support the 2017 Staphylococcal Diseases Gordon Research Conference (GRC) and its associated Gordon Research Seminar (GRS). This will be the 15th GRC, with the first being held in 1989 and thereafter on a biennial basis. Importantly, it will be the 3rd meeting of the GRS, the specific purpose of which is to promote the development of the next generation of staphylococcal investigators and the active participation of these investigators and their integration into the broader research community. These meetings will be held at Waterville Valley, NH with the GRS being held on August 5-6 and the GRC immediately following on August 6-11, 2017. The overall goal of the GRC and its associated GRS is to bring the world?s leading scientists and the most promising young investigators and trainees together in a collegial and supportive environment. The specific goals are to: 1) provide a forum for the presentation of unpublished, cutting-edge research and both formal and informal discussions of the manner in which these results advance the field, 2) include investigators focusing on diverse staphylococcal species and the impact of these species on the overall problem of staphylococcal infection in both humans and animals, 3) include investigators focusing on all aspects of staphylococcal disease and provide these investigators with a forum to expand the boundaries of their own work, and 4) ensure development and integration of young investigators into the broader research community in a meaningful and interactive way. The collegial atmosphere will include organized discussion sessions as well as opportunities for informal gatherings in the afternoons and evenings, thus providing an ideal setting for scientists from different disciplines to exchange ideas and foster cross-disciplinary collaborations both among themselves and the next generation of staphylococcal investigators. Thus, the GRC will provide a unique and fundamentally important opportunity to bring together the world?s leading staphylococcal investigators in a format designed for the free exchange of research results and ideas covering all aspects of staphylococcal biology and its relationship to disease and, together with the GRS, it will do so in a manner specifically designed to promote the development of promising young investigators in the field and their integration into the larger research community. In the short term, this will significantly enhance the ability of investigators around the world to address critical problems in staphylococcal disease, while in the long term it will ensure the continued success of their efforts and those of the next generation of investigators.